We’re continuing our reviews of the latest wave of Nexo Knights sets with the four new “Ultimate” figure sets: 70336 Ultimate Axl, 70337 Ultimate Lance, 70338 Ultimate General Magmar, and 70339 Ultimate Flama. Each of these four sets includes a figure and a load of accessories, and will retail for $10 USD when they are officially available August 1. Today we’re looking at 70338: Ultimate General Magmar.
Gamabomb brings us this friendly AI robot, named Cailín. Not to be confused with Caylin, the author of this post, who is quite insistent that this is not a portrait. The robot Cailín is tall, slender, and looks to be a distant relative of No-Face from Spirited Away. The human Caylin is not tall, and as far as I am aware, not related to any spirits.
In all seriousness, Cailín is just lovely. The robot is delicate, but still seems to have enough power to rip one’s head off should you become a threat. Such an excellent combination!
If Cailín does not suit your robot needs, then I invite you to take a look at the Hillmaster Exoskeleton. This exoskeleton features an ADORABLE pilot in the Operatorsuit.
Here’s proof that you don’t need a lot of colors to build an exciting and dynamic model. Simple grays and white convey the power of the water and the feat of engineering in this vignette of a Russian dam by vir-a-cocha. This model is also notable for its excellent mix of studs and tiles, conveying both industrial realism and naturalistic landscaping simultaneously. I’d love to see an Architecture set like this.
I never would have guessed before playing Overwatch that I would build a pink gun for my LEGO arsenal. D.Va quickly became my favorite hero to play in Overwatch, and her pistol used outside her mech looked rad. Plus, the bunny charm hanging from the mag well was too adorable. I find building a pistol or similarly sized 1:1 scale build harder than larger rifles, swords, or launchers due to the limited space for structural stability and that weapons of this size can be held with one hand. Combine this with the limited selection of LEGO elements in pink, and you have quite the building challenge.
Working parts include a moving trigger and removable magazine. These features, a 360° view, and a small breakdown of some paneling are shown in the following video.
See all photos of D.Va’s Light Gun in its Flickr album.
While most Fallout 4 players are building their own virtual Commonwealth settlements, Wookieewarrior took it to another level with the bricks. Haphazard construction techniques for the wood paneling, rusty colors for the amazingly detailed high voltage tower, and a large palette of subdued colors for the overgrowth create the perfect nuclear fallout atmosphere. I also enjoy the small details here, such as the precarious windmill on the roof and the tato plants out front.
What began as several friends having a blast leveling up together in Borderlands 2 became a fun collaborative effort to showcase the cast of characters in Borderlands 2 with bricks. Evan Bordessa, Simon Liu, Daniel Church, Caleb Wagoner, Alec Doede, Eric Leis, and myself (Nick Jensen) present a brick built trip back to Pandora in search of loot and mayhem. Originally intended to be a tribute to the playable vault hunters, the collaborative layout became more expansive, covering several other major characters and a few enemies and vehicles found on the journey to the Vault.
First, let’s take a look at the playable vault hunters. From left to right: Axton the Commando (Evan), Salvador the Gunzerker (Eric), Zer0 (Daniel), Gaige the Mechromancer and Deathtrap (Nick), Maya the Siren (Caleb), and Krieg the Psycho (Evan).
The full layout features additional characters, vehicles, and scenery found throughout Pandora. Bandits, Hyperion engineers, and Hyperion loaders of all types and sizes stand among characters such as Face McShooty, Mad Moxxi, Mr. Torgue, Angel, Handsome Jack, Claptrap, and Tiny Tina. A pair of Runners, vending machines printed by EclipseGrafx, loot boxes, and a New-U Respawn Station complete the Pandora feel.
Watch a brief overview of the full layout as it was at Brickworld Chicago 2016 in the following video.
Individual photos of most of the characters and scenery can be found on each builders’ Flickr photostream and in this imgur album. (Warning: Mild Language)
It seems Jeremy Williams paid attention to our unsubtle hints when we covered his fabulous Ares 7 Martian Rover model — he’s produced a video of the rover in action. Take a look — you can see the vehicle’s independent suspension and four-wheel steering make short work of the terrain.
To top it all, this video was shot on the Martian scenery layout at the UK’s National Space Centre in Leicester. The authorities there let Jeremy sneak in to do his shoot before regular opening hours — a very cool filming location for an excellent model.
I remember the first time I ran across Dwemer ruins in Morrowind. It was a mysterious cavern full of strange pipes and hissing steam, and then I heard a noise, and something rolled at me and I died. Needless to say, I came back for more, until I’d vanquished the curious Dwarven artifacts left to guard the riches of the lost Dwemer race. I enjoyed the amazing steampunk relics again in Skyrim years later, and LEGO builder Bartłomiej H brings that experience to the brick with these fantastic Dwemer ruins. They truly evoke the feel of the disheveled passageways and abandoned rooms filled with metal machines and odd artifacts. He even includes an intrepid adventurer (like you!) to fight through the devious Dwarven devices.
Click to see more of Dwemerium
Bricktastic is an annual fan show held in Manchester in aid of Fairy Bricks — a charity which aims to brighten the lives of sick children by providing hospitals with LEGO sets.
This weekend saw thousands of LEGO enthusiasts descend on the show to see displays from some of the best UK builders, gawp at massive creations, try their hand at Mindstorms robotics, and enjoy some building of their own.
Here’s a short overview of some of the cool things Brothers Brick saw at the event, starting with the awesome Bright Bricks dragon which towered over the exhibition space…
Click through to see more pictures from the event
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve reviewed the custom LEGO kits designed by Dan Siskind of Brickmania. Back in 2013, I reviewed the Dodge WC54 Ambulance, and writing those reviews really got me started in building World War II models seriously. In the meantime, Dan and his team have continued to release new custom kits, on a near-weekly cadence. One of Dan’s recent Brickmania releases is the M3A1 Scout Car, produced by the White Motor Company between 1940 and 1944. The vehicle served throughout WW2, and its basic design served as the basis of the iconic M3 Half-track.
Like some of the custom kits I reviewed back in 2013, the M3A1 Scout Car is a WW2 vehicle I also built back in 2014, so I’ll be comparing Dan’s version with my own.
Click through to read the full review
We’ve seen some pretty epic LEGO Batcaves here on The Brothers Brick over the years, including a Batcave built from 20,000 LEGO bricks and a super-detailed LEGO Batcave, and even Wayne Manor with a 1960’s Batcave. Chak hei Mok joins the Batcave builders club with this atmospheric lair featuring spots for multiple tumblers, a command post,
Click through to see more photos of this LEGO Batcave
Nice woodwork here from KaiNRG/Geneva. This courthouse is appropriately grand and intimidating with some excellent parts usage to create the wood panelling and the strip of carpet. Those NEXO Knight shields also look good — nice to see these parts showing up in a low-tech Castle creation.
